Learning approaches- behaviourism Flashcards
what do behaviourists believe that behaviour is learnt from ?
behaviour is learnt from experience
which behaviour is only measurable scientifically according to behaviourists?
only observable behaviour is measurable scientifically
what do behaviourists believe that it is valid to study on and why ?
they believe that it is valid to study animals as they share the same principles of learning as humans
what do behaviourists believe that we are born as ?
we are born a blank slate
what is meant by the idea that we are born a blank slate ?
the idea that you are born with no influences on your behaviour and its the experiences you have after birth that shape your behaviour
- behaviour is nurtured
what are the 2 types of conditioning ?
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
who investigated classical conditioning ?
Pavlov and his dogs
what is meant by classical conditioning ?
learning through association
- involves the conditioning of reflexes by associating a new stimulus with an innate reflex action
describe Pavlov’s research
he conditioned a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell
- he paired the bel ( a new conditioned stimulus) with the food ( old innate reflex)
the dog learnt to associate the sound of the bell with food a reflex action (salivation) became a conditioned response
what is meant when extinction happens ?
when the learnt behaviour dies out when you stop reinforcing it
Pavlov’s findings
stimulus generalisation
stimulus discrimination
time contiguity
stimulus generalisation
- pavlov found that if he varied the tone and pitch of the bell, the dog would still salivate
stimulus discrimination
- Pavlov found that if the characteristics ere too different the dog would not salivate
- so you can’t pair a bell and a drum
time contiguity
-if the time between hearing the sound and receiving the food was too long , the dog would not salivate
Watson and Raynor - little Albert procedure
an 11 month old boy was presented with various stimuli i.e rat, rabbit , cotton wool and his responses were filmed. he showed no fear reaction to the stimuli
a fear reaction was then induced by striking a steel bar with a hammer behind his head when he touched the stimuli and this startled him. the procedure was repeated 3 times and variations of the conditioning continued for 3 months
findings of little albert experiment
when shown the rat , albert would cry, roll over and crawl away. He had developed fear towards the rat and to the other animals as well as furry objects
LA
what was the conditioned stimulus ?
animals
LA
what was the unconditioned stimulus ?
the noise of the steel bar and hammer
LA
what was the unconditioned response ?
crying and crawling away
LA
what was the conditioned response ?
no fear to the animals
what is a stimulus ?
something that causes a response
who investigated operant conditioning ?
Skinner and his rats
what is meant by operant conditioning ?
the principle of learning through consequences
what are the 3 parts of operant conditioning ?
positive reinforcement - reward
punishment
negative reinforcement - removing the consequence
describe Skinner’s research
skinners box for rats contained a response lever which could prompt the release of a pellet down a chute so that the art could eat. there were also loud speakers and lights which acted as visual and auditory signals/ cues. the floor was metal and could be electrified to produce an electric shock. actions to avoid shock would be rewarded
what was the positive reinforcement ?
the pellet
what was the punishment ?
the electrified floor
hat was the negative reinforcement ?
the electrified floor
Skinner’s findings ?
skinner found that as soon as the art learned that it would get a pellet when pressing the lever, it would carry on doing it
- the pressing of the lever then becomes a learned behaviour as the art learns that it is rewarded
